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A Stop The Steal is posted inside of the U.S. Capitol Building after a pro-Trump mob broke into the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Photo by Jon Cherry | Getty Images

There is way too much hate and way too much misinformation spreading across our political landscape.

Ive watched and written about politics for more than 55 years and have never seen anything that approaches this mess.At the top of the dreadful heap: a former president who seems to think he is still president and spends most of every day trashing everyone who disagrees.

It is like watching a comedy of errors. Each day dawns with a new series of attacks from Trump land. Seven months after voters elected Joe Biden president, Trump is still trying to count and recount votes in various places, despite rulings from many courts that have confirmed that Biden won the election.

In the beginning, I thought Trump was merely a buffoon who liked to grab unsuspecting women in sensitive places, a practice he boasted about that was captured on tape and broadcast for all to hear.

I thought Trump was just plain wrong when he said he could shoot someone in the middle of Manhattan and get away with it. Now Im not quite so sure.

In daily statements from his Save America operation and We Love Trump newsletter published several times a day, Trump spreads rumors denigrating COVID-19 vaccines, promoting visions from ministers saying he will regain the presidency any day now, and calling all efforts to investigate his conduct and connections to the Jan. 6 raid on the U.S. Capitol just part of another witch hunt.

Banned from Facebook and Twitter for spreading misinformation, Trump now uses various other ways to spread even more misinformation.

In one publication of the Daily Truth Report called We Love Trump, he even accused former Vice President Mike Pence of having a gay lover. There is just no limit to what he and his followers have been willing to do: Witness the noose at the Capitol to hang U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Witness those who were chasing Pence to keep him from certifying the results of the 2020 election.

It would be laughable if it werent so damaging to our country. Its clear that some people believe him and continue to support him. Its also clear that other many of the Republicans in Congress are so afraid of him they are voting against their own interests to avoid his wrath.

From the Senate floor, then-Senate President Mitch McConnell denounced Trumps role in the Jan. 6 invasion of the Capitol after his fellow senators failed to remove the president from office for sparking the raid. But McConnell, now the U.S. Senate minority leader, wouldnt cast a vote against Trump. Instead, he has fought efforts to authorize a formal investigation of the raid.

McConnell and many other members of Congress line up and kiss the ring, flying down to Mar-a-Lago to get their pictures taken with him playing a round of golf or greeting a crowd.

One of the prizes for idiocy in Congress should go to U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Georgia. He compared the raid which killed five people and injured many others to a normal tourist visit to the Capitol. A day later someone produced pictures of Clyde helping barricade the doors of the House as the invasion was under way.

Many Republicans in Congress have completely ostracized U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, for speaking out against Trump. She has pledged to do everything she can to ensure that the former president never gets anywhere near the Oval Office again, a quote Trump and his minions have widely circulated in an effort to damage her future political possibilities.

Supporters responding to one of the Daily Truth Reports, recently suggested Pelosi should face a firing squad. And Trumps daily newsletter refers to Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris as Joe and the Ho and asked supporters to recommend punishment if they are found guilty of rigging and stealing the election.

His supporters took the bait, with hundreds responding: hang them, firing squad, life in prison, guillotine, death by fire ants, Castration, Electrocution, a life sentence at Guantanamo Bay and 60 days of a continuous loop of Trump rallies.

The suggestions went on for more than 50 pages of venom, which Trump emailed in his daily report.

The newsletters are sprinkled with ads from financial companies being touted by former U.S. Rep Ron Paul: CBD painkillers, portable air conditioners, Ben Carsons over the counter smart pills that allegedly will triple your memory and retention in 21 days; a potent CBD line being promoted by Tucker Carlson of Fox News as well as cures for all sorts of problems.

Serious people in the world of politics would ordinarily ignore all this blathering, but the path back to sanity is not so clear.

We have many miles to go before our world can be repaired.

Pulitzer Prize-winner Lucy Morgan was chief of the St. Petersburg (Tampa Bay) Times capital bureau in Tallahassee for 20 years, retiring in 2006 and serving as senior correspondent until 2013. She is a contributor to the Florida Phoenix, which first published this essay.

Excerpt from:
The path back to sanity is not so clear: Hate, venom and a former president who seems to think he's still president - ncpolicywatch.com

Have Americans still got the guts for democracy? In light of recent events in Washington, youd have to say its doubtful.

Last week, the Senate voted 54-35 to establish an independent commission to investigate the seditious Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol the most violent attack there since the War of 1812. The House had previously approved the measure 252-175.

If the Senate vote were a football score, youd call a 19-point win decisive. And yet, the measure failed to survive a Republican filibuster, a quaint Senate rule requiring a supermajority of 60 votes to become law.

Created during racial segregation and used for decades to block civil rights reforms, the filibuster is found nowhere in the U.S. Constitution. Its neither a law nor a Supreme Court ruling. Its merely a Senate custom and an openly undemocratic one which could be eliminated tomorrow by a simple majority vote.

The Senate is a conservative institution by definition. It gives far more power and influence to small rural states than to large, metropolitan ones where most people live. Citizens of Wyoming, population 579,000, for example, have about 70 times the influence in the U.S. Senate as citizens of California, population 39.5 million.

Only major constitutional surgery can change that, so its never going to happen. No point even talking about it.

Add the filibuster, however, and its a recipe for legislative paralysis: to wit, a government that refuses to defend itself against violent insurrection because it might hurt Citizen Trumps feelings.

Or might put Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in a tight spot. Not to mention Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. These two heroes spoke out decisively in the immediate aftermath of the January coup attempt, but now the wind has changed and theyre busily hunting cover.

If you cant get a Republican to support a nonpartisan analysis of why the Capitol was attacked the first time since the War of 1812, then what are you holding out hope for? asks Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.

What, indeed?

Former Obama White House aide David Plouffe put it even more bluntly on Twitter: Democracy dying so the filibuster can live would seem a terrible way for this experiment to end.

Polls have shown that Americans support the establishment of a Jan. 6 commission by 56% to 30% a clear majority. Even 28% of Republicans would be interested in finding out, for example, how many of those tours given by right-wing members of Congress on Jan. 5 comprised pre-riot reconnaissance. Or who gave the stand down order preventing the National Guard from arriving on time, and why.

Just how organized was the conspiracy that resulted in uniformed Proud Boys running through the halls of Congress chanting Hang Mike Pence! while the vice presidents security team hustled him into hiding?

Did the Proud Boys keep it a secret from their pal Roger Stone? Did he neglect to tell his pal Donald J. Trump?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Senate Republicans, not so much.

Look, under current circumstances, 54-35 equates to a thunderous majority. The filibuster, however, equates with doing nothing, and with political cowardice.

Indeed, the filibuster is arguably more responsible than anything else for the disdain with which most Americans view Congress congenital inability to act. Thats certainly how Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., sees it.

If they block the Jan. 6 commission, we will have to abolish the filibuster, Markey told The Washington Post. If the Republicans block climate action, we will have to abolish the filibuster. If Republicans block voting rights, well have to abolish the filibuster. If Republicans block gun control legislation, we will have to abolish the filibuster. So I think that its just continuing to move towards the inevitability of the unavoidable necessity of repealing the filibuster.

And yet, preserving the filibuster is seemingly more important to certain moderate Democrats specifically Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz. than all of those things. See, something else the filibuster does is enhance the power and visibility of individual senators one reason President Joe Biden, a 30-year Senate veteran, is himself iffy about abolition.

The argument is that the 60-vote Senate requirement somehow fosters bipartisanship, although nobody ever says how. Mostly it now fosters Manchins televised imitations of Maines GOP Sen. Susan Collins routinely regretting this and deploring that, before falling quietly in line. (In fairness, Manchin and Collins both voted for the Jan. 6 commission.)

On the day after voting to drop the filibuster, Manchin would return to being just another of 50 Democratic senators. So theres that.

Others argue that should Republicans retake the Senate come 2022, Democrats could come to regret it. Could be, although does anybody think the GOP wont ditch the rule whenever its convenient?

In the foreseeable future, theres no chance of either party securing a 60-vote majority. The choice is between majority rule and paralysis.

Gene Lyons is a columnist for the Arkansas Times.

Send letters to letters@suntimes.com.

Link:
Blame it on the filibuster | Lyons - Chicago Sun-Times

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A man was arrested in Arizona on suspicion of entering the U.S. Capitol during theJan. 6 riot and yelling and striking two officers.

James Burton McGrew faces multiple federal charges in a complaint made public this week, including engaging inphysical violence in a restricted building and assaulting, resisting or impeding an officer.

A federal complaint with arrest warrant was issued May 27 fromWashington, D.C. McGrew was taken into custodyin Glendale on Friday, according to the FBI.

It was unclear whether McGrew is also an Arizona resident; his hometown was not available from the FBI.

The list: These are the Arizonans arrested so far after rampage at U.S. Capitol

The federal complaint said video footage from a body camera worn by police officers shows McGrew inside the U.S. Capitol shortly before 3 p.m. on Jan. 6 and captures him lifting his white T-shirt to display a large tattoo across his stomach that says"King James."

The FBI says a 2012 booking photo shows that James Burton McGrew has a tattoo across his stomach that says, "King James."(Photo: FBI)

The complaint saidMcGrew aggressively approached law enforcement officers, yelling Were coming in here, whether you like it or not and Fight with us, not against us. Body cameras reportedly show McGrew inside the Capitol Rotunda at 3:05 p.m. whilelaw enforcement tried to push the rioters back.

The federal complaint alleges McGrew was pushed back with the crowd and lungedforward to strike a law enforcement officer. He retreated as officers yelled at the crowd to move back.But within seconds, the complaint alleged, McGrew disobeyed thecommands and moved forward.

The FBI says police officer body camera footage showed a tattoo on James Burton McGrew's stomach when he raised his shirt while inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.(Photo: FBI)

He screamed at officers, according to the federal complaint. When one officertold him toJust leave, just leave man," McGrew screamed back,You leave. You leave. This is our house."

The federal complaint says law enforcement tried to move people toward the door, using batons and telling them to "move back." McGrew allegedly struck another officer and lunged for his baton.

McGrew could not be reached for comment by The Arizona Republic, and court records do not yet list his attorney's name.

Federal prosecutors continue to charge participants in the Jan. 6 riot, adding to dozens of arrests that took place in Washington, D.C., that day. More than 400 people face charges. Five people died. About140 police officers were injured.

Inside: QAnon,Patriot groups that stormed US Capitol have deep roots in Arizona

Many of the rioters came from PresidentDonald Trumps Save America Rally that began hours earlier ata park near the White House. Trump spoke to them for more than an hour, insistingthe presidential election had been stolen.

As Congress started to count Electoral College votes, thousandsof supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol building, sending lawmakers scrambling for safety and prompting evacuations.Vice President Mike Pence had to be moved to a secure location.

The FBI said a tipster contacted federal authorities on Jan. 7 with information that McGrew had traveled to Washington to protest what he called the "stolen vote." The tipster claimed McGrew showed a video of himself inside the U.S. Capitol on the day of the riot.Another tipster provided the FBI with photos in February that purportedly show McGrew inside the Capitol.

The FBI said it matched photos of McGrew's tattoo across his stomach with a photo from a 2012 booking photo. It was unclear from the federal complaintwhere the booking photo was taken.

Reach the reporter atanne.ryman@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8072. Follow her on Twitter @anneryman.

Support local journalism.Subscribe to azcentral.com today.

Read or Share this story: https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2021/06/02/james-burton-mcgrew-king-james-belly-tattoo-arrested-arizona-striking-2-officers-capitol-riot-jan-6/7499980002/

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Man arrested in Arizona accused of striking 2 officers in U.S. Capitol riot; identified by his 'King James' belly tattoo - The Arizona Republic

Photo: Monkey Business Images (Shutterstock)

This week, a Massachusetts elementary school teacher was fired after he was exposed as an unabashed white supremacist writer who routinely published his work on white nationalist websites under multiple pseudonyms.

Hes a self-described race realist, which, as far as I can tell, only means that hes a Critical Race Theory-bashing, leftist-hating, garden-variety conservative who thinks white people are the truly oppressed racial group in a country dominated by whitenesswhich makes him no different than your average GOPropagandist legislator in office right now.

Anyway, 33-year-old Benjamin Welton was fired from Star Academy in Watertown, Ma.where he taught English, social studies and computer scienceafter he was investigated by a group of researchers called the Anonymous Comrades Collective and then exposed to his employer by HuffPost.

The researchers found out that his whiny people greatest hits collection includes work he did as a freelance writer for the American Renaissance. In case youre unfamiliar, its a white supremacist website that serves as a virtual gathering spot for mediocre white people to rant about how Black people are inferior to them while crying the saltiest of white tears over the normalization of anti-white rhetoric without smelling even a whiff of their own hypocrisy.

On this site, Welton wrote an essay titled, From Wide-Eyed Liberal to Race Realist under the name Sinclair Jenkins.

G/O Media may get a commission

From HuffPost:

Jenkins wrote that his radicalization began in the Navy, where it angered him to see blacks be mean to his fellow white sailors. Later, in graduate school, he grew disgusted over the ingrained culture of anti-white hatred in academia. Also, once I began paying attention to the news, I started seeing why so many people in my hometown took a dim view of blacks, wrote Jenkins, who noted that he grew up somewhere in Appalachia. After Ferguson and Baltimore, I understood that pumping money into the ghetto would never fix things. Later, he said, he discovered writers like John Derbyshire and Ann Coulter, who shared his distaste for immigrants, and websites like American Renaissance and VDare, which shared his firmly held belief in the biological foundations to race, and helped shape his white nationalist worldview.

Near the end of the article, Jenkins noted that he was a teacher, an audacious admission to make in a white supremacist publication.

If you need any more proof that Weltonwho I cant help but laugh at because, despite his extreme whiteness, he chose a Black-ass name like Sinclair Jenkins to hide behindis ideologically indistinguishable from the most prominent members of the current Republican Party. He also tweeted under a different pseudonym last August that making America great again requires defunding critical race theory.

According to the investigators, Welton also worked his neo-Nazi pen under aliases like Jake Bowyer and the second Blackest name a white supremacist could think of, Elias Kingston.

But in 2018, he wrote a piece under his real name called Against Education for a right-wing blog called the American Sun.

Your typical man on the street in America 2018 A.D. will come up with a small catalog of answers about what to do with our education system, Welton wrote, HuffPost reports. The race realist will speak of declining worldwide IQs and Americas increasing mongrelization driven by unassimilated races with below-average intelligence capacities.

He also wrote a bunch of white nonsense on how education is wasted on non-whites while bitching about how he feels American college campuses today are essentially playgrounds for far-Left agitators, anti-White elitists, and subsidized international students.

Just as abroad, if there is a rape culture on campus, it is largely being created because of the importation of Third Worlders, he wrote.

After the Anonymous Comrades Collective shared its findings with HuffPost, which then contacted Star Academy for comment, Welton was fired. He deleted all of his online activity, including a social media post from March 31, when he reportedly wrote: No mercy for our enemies. Do not weep, for they are not human. Treat those who want to abolish whiteness with the same venom if not more. They deserve medieval punishments. He wrote this seven months into his job as an elementary school teacher.

More From HuffPost:

Earlier this week, before they fired Welton, Star Academy administrators said in an emailed statement that they had not been aware of the concerning online publications allegedly made by a teacher at the school.

Star Academy, the statement continued, is committed to a diverse and inclusive community and embraces our responsibility as an educational institution to foster a safe and healthy environment for our students. We do not support, condone, or agree with white supremacism or white separatist ideologies.

After HuffPosts inquiries, Star Academy deleted the Faculty page from its website, which had included a photo of Welton and a brief description of his job.

So basically, all of these right-wingers who are suddenly hellbent on ridding the world of Critical Race Theory are worried about the wrong thing. It is teachers like Welton who should be banned from the classroom.

But Welton pretty much embodies neo-conservatism, so I wouldnt hold my breath for Republican lawmakers to have the same energy for teachers like him that they do for anyone who wishes to teach about America through a lens of Blackness.

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Massachusetts Elementary School Teacher Fired After Being Exposed as White Supremacist Writer Who Hid Behind P - The Root

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY -It had been nearly two years, to the day, since the last time Shen and Saratoga's baseball teams played each other. It took a Memorial Day weekend night game on Saturday to end that stretch, featuring the latest Battle of I-87.

"This has been going on since 2017," said Shen's Cal Vander Veer with a big smile, as he checked the date on the Battle of I-87 trophy. "Basically whenever we play each other we bring it and if you win you get to keep it until the next time."

Saturday night also marked the first time the Battle would be played at Saratoga's new home field at East Side Recreation Park, although it would end in disappointment for the Blue Streaks. The Plainsmen brought the large glove back to Clifton Park with a 4-2 victory.

Saratoga jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the first inning, when Zander Teator doubled to center field, scoring Ryan Ash, who had reached on a walk.

In the top of the third, Brody Vincenzi would begin his big day, knocking inDavid Gustafson with a base hit to center, trying the game at one. Later in the inning, Guiseppe D'Elia would reach on an error by Ryan Ash at shortstop, allowing Vincenzi to score on the play and giving Shen a 2-1 lead.

Ryan Ash quickly made up for the mistake in the bottom half of the inning, lining a home run to left field to tie the game.

With the game still tied 2-2 in the top of the sixth inning, Colin Maloney doubled to lead off for Shen. Jacek Strain was then told to drop a sacrifice bunt, but was able to reach on the play. Cal Vander Veer would then come up to the plate with runners on first and third and one out.

"I saw Colin on third and coming up I was just thinking 'I have to hit it to the outfield'. There was only one out, so I knew I had a job to do, but I actually missed the suicide squeeze sign," Vander Veer explained. "But anything can happen in baseball and I just rolled with it."

While Shen coach Greg Christodulu had a squeeze play in mind to get the go-ahead run across and Vander Veer's thoughts were on a sacrifice fly, neither of those things happened. What did happen is Vander Veer hitting a chopper in the third base-shortstop hole. Evan Owens was able to snag it, but his only play was to first, as Maloney had a good secondary lead on third and broke home on contact.

The next batter for Shen would be Brody Vincenzi, with a runner on second and two outs.

"I'm just trying to put the ball in play," Vincenzi said. "You know Toga's gonna come out and try to put up some more runs."

The senior outfielder would double in the left-center field gap, driving in Strain and giving Shen a 4-2 lead.

"It relieved the whole team. It gave Sean (Flaherty) some insurance and we just played good defense and were able to come out with the win. In tight games like this, if we play defense and get timely hits, we're going to win every game."

Vincenzi's RBI double knocked out Saratoga ace, Patrick Deschaine, who battled through 5.1 innings, allowing four runs - three earned - on eight hits and five walks. He struck out five in the loss.

Ryan Pittz, who started the game for Shen, went five innings, allowing two runs on six hits and three walks, as he earned the win. Will Shea took over in the sixth, and Nathan Rodriguez would try to get the Streaks gong with a pinch-hit double. It would go to waste as Shea was able to work out of it.

Sean Flaherty then took over in the bottom of the seventh, looking to pick up the save. After Michael Mack reached on a pinch-hit infield single, he was erased on a double play, as Flaherty finished out the inning with Ryan Ash left in the on-deck circle.

With the win, Shen is now 10-4 overall this season and have won nine games in a row.

"The first couple of games were a little rocky, but we've really come together as a team," Vander Veer said. "We build off of each other's energy and it's a great thing what we've been able to do the last nine games."

The Blue Streaks fell to 7-9 with the loss.

BATTLE OF I-87 HISTORY

Since the glove started being passed around in 2017, all of Shen's and Saratoga's matchups against each other have been either one or two-run games, including the latest installment.

The last time the teams faced off was on May 30, 2019, nearly two years to the day of Saturday's game. There was a bit more at stake in the 2019 game, as it was the Section 2 semifinals - a painful memory for the Blue Streaks.

Evan Jones had shut-out Saratoga for the first six innings of that game. Nate Chudy had held Shen to just two runs, as the Plainsmen took a 2-0 lead to the seventh. In the top of the seventh after Shen ace Brendan Disonell took the mound, Chudy drove home Ryan Dolan and Christian Kondo with a two-run single, to tie the game. In the bottom half of the inning, Jake Reinisch smacked a walk-off single to left, scoring Patrick McGuire, as the Plainsmen began their run to the 2019 New York State Championship game.

East Side Recreation Park

Saratoga Springs, NY

SHENENDEHOWA 0-0-2-0-0-2-0 -- 4-8-0

SARATOGA 1-0-1-0-0-0-0 -- 2-8-2

WP:Ryan Pittz; LP:Patrick Deschaine; HLD:Will Shea; SV: Sean Flaherty

2B: Colin Maloney (SHEN), Brody Vincenzi (SHEN),Nathan Rodriguez (SAR), Alex Teator (SAR)

HR: Ryan Ash (SAR)

RBI: Cal Vander Veer (SHEN), Brody Vincenzi 2 (SHEN), Ryan Ash (SAR), Alex Teator (SAR)

SHEN PITCHING

Ryan Pittz 5.0 IP, 2R, 2ER, 6H, 3BB, 2K, W; Will Shea: 1.0 IP, 0R, 1H, 2K, HLD; Sean Flaherty: 1.0 IP, 0R, 1H, SV

SARATOGA PITCHING

Patrick Deschaine 5.1 IP, 4R, 3ER, 8H, 5BB, 5K, L;Mateo Avila: 1.1 IP, 0R, 1BB

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HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL: Shen defeats Saratoga 4-2 to win Battle of I-87 after a nearly two-year hiatus - The Saratogian